u/TailorIntrepid2824

I have ChatGPT giving me an update on this trial every few months. Thought it might be useful to flag to others. Extremely early days but something to perhaps keep an eye on (pun intended!):

TN‑001 (TheiaNova)

The first-in-human TN‑001 trial is now actively underway in Australia, with first patient dosing confirmed earlier this year. The study remains a small Phase 1/2 safety and proof‑of‑concept trial. No human efficacy data have been published yet.

ClinicalTrials.gov +2

Key points:

TN‑001 combines TGF‑β3 with dexamethasone as a topical regenerative therapy.

The goal is biological collagen regeneration rather than conventional mechanical stiffening.

The trial is still focused primarily on safety/tolerability and dose selection.

No peer‑reviewed outcomes on visual improvement, corneal flattening, or long‑term stabilisation have been released.

At this stage, the signal is still: “interesting science, but unproven clinically”.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07388069?utm\_source=chatgpt.com

Hi all,

I'm a 37-year-old male living in the UK. Due to my own idiotic vanity, I had the SMILE laser treatment around 10 years ago.

To give it its due I had approximately eight years of glasses-free, near perfect vision. Then around two years, to 18 months ago, I started to notice that vision in my left eye in particular was deteriorating. It's now very bad in my left eye and unassisted, I can't read anything really beyond a hand's pace from my face. Right eye still okay, and indeed a lot better than it was pre-surgery (at that point I'd never had any issues with corneal strength, just short sightedness).

Anyway I had a lifetime re-treatment from my original laser surgery people so I went back to them Sep last year. It was there that it was identified that the cornea was in pretty bad shape and that I may have something called Keratoconus, mainly in my left eye but also early stage in my right. I'd never heard of it before. Now very delighted to see this subreddit and learn a lot more.

I guess my initial question revolves around fear. I've got young kids, good life etc, and I'm quite concerned that, given the deterioration in my eyesight from the laser surgery to now, my eyes could continue to deteriorate further - what sort of impact this could have on my overall quality of life, etc.

Having read this thread, it appears that I am one of the lucky ones in that my vision is still very good with glasses and I can currently still use soft contact lenses. Although the left eye vision comes and goes, I can actually get about my day OK with contact lenses, if I choose to forgoe the glasses that day.

I see an ophthalmologist every six months and having now been twice, they were of the opinion it had not developed significantly from Sep - Dec 2025. Next appointment July.

It seems like others here have it much worse. I guess I'd like to know how bad it could get, and what the treatment options are. Initially I was pushing for cross-linking but my opthalmologist is adopting more of a wait-and-see approach.